Fun Misc. Pictures

We recently repainted our living room, kitchen, and hall- for the third time.  Because it was going to be the third time we decided we should get samples and try a section before doing the whole thing.  We choose the top middle paint and it looks great!  Sorry to my poor hubby who has to keep painting!  

A side note-  We had a long weekend and I was planning that we should go to Sea World.  When I very enthusiastically told Spencer about my plans I could tell he was less than thrilled.  A few days later I had the inspiration to suggest painting over the long weekend instead of going out of town.  He very enthusiastically agreed.  :)  Good think he likes painting more than crowds.

Claire prefers to stack the canned goods instead of blocks...  watch your toes when they all come tumbling down!

The painting weekend- Claire loves to climb.  Thankfully she is getting a little more calm.

No fear child jumping to Mom in the pool.

Another fun thing to do with the cans = play store in the living room and wonder why mom doesn't really like this new game.

I recently bought a water bath canner and I've used it several times.  Here's a beautiful picture of  some of the pears.

One night for FHE dessert we had chocolate dipped bananas.  They were yummy and messy.  Sure to please any kid.

Making cookies with Papa.

A preschool lesson about our 5 senses.  Learning about taste and tasting a few things that look the same but taste different.  The girls really liked this activity.  Claire got lucky and got the yogurt while Lily got the sour cream.  Claire also got the sugar and Lily the salt.  :)

Kaitlynn Jill

 Kaitlynn Jill was born!  She surprised us by coming two weeks early.  She was 6 lbs 6 oz and 20" long.

 She was named after both her Grandma's middle names.  Lynn for Shree's Mom and Jill for Spencer's Mom.  Ollie likes to call her "Baby Cakes".  Lily has decided that she will call her "Katie" and Claire calls her "Baby Tate". We think her nick name will be Katie so I guess Lily wins.  :)

 Mom and baby are both doing well.  The kids are loving her.  Pic. above- the kids see her for the first time.  Below- they loved playing in the hospital bed.

 So an interesting side note...  After being in labor at the hospital for 7 hours, Spencer essentially delivered the baby.

 I told the nurse that the baby was coming.  She didn't believe me.  I told her several times until finally she checked...  Surprise, there was the head.  The nurse ran to get help and out came baby Katie right onto the bed.

 Spencer flipped her over and started to clean her off before the nurse came back.  The doctor showed up a few minutes later bewildered by how he could be in the hospital and still miss the birth.  The nurse should have listened.  :) 

 And no, you don't get a refund if you deliver your own baby.  :)

 There are no pictures of Claire holding the baby but she does get a turn.  Mom just won't let go of the baby for even a second to take a picture.  :)

Lily Quote

This morning as Lily was doing her reading lesson...

Lily, "Mom, I'm faster at reading than a pig rolling in the mud!"

I'm not sure what she was thinking but I thought it was a funny comparison.  :)

Back to School

Claire cheesin' it for the camera.  She is only one and has four more years before school but she wants to be included.  She has her own backpack and school supplies in a little box.  She really likes it when we cut and/or glue.  :)

Trying to get both girls to look at the camera at the same time... impossible.  :)  Lily loves to flap the straps on her backpack and Claire always has some toy in her hands.

I told Lily to stand next to the wall.  She pressed herself up against the wall until I told her she didn't have to stand that close. 

Lily is doing pre-K this year.  We did a mother's group last year where we all rotated who taught and she loved it!  This year, with the new baby coming, I felt we needed something that would be simpler for our family.  So we are doing pre-K at home.  We have school with the girls every Monday and Thursday.  They are loving it!  Lily is also doing "reading lessons" every day for about 20 minutes and is getting good at sounding out words.  After she learns to read a book then she reads it to the whole family.  She is proud that she is learning to read!

We had yummy sweet rolls for breakfast on the first day of school.  The kids loved the frosting.  :)

Ollie telling us he's starting 2nd grade.  He's sure a handsome kiddo!

Ollie is really into "nature" pictures and wanted his picture in front of our tree.

Outside his classroom.  I can't believe that my little boy is in second grade!  How time flies!  So far he is loving school and really likes his teacher.  She is very enthusiastic and he likes it.  She also reads in different voices when she reads them a story and he loves it!

These are the last summer pictures! Up next will be the back to school pictures and school only started 5 weeks ago. :)

She has her Grandpa's to thank for the beautiful blue eyes!

Cornstarch + water = fun slime for kids  (an outside activity)

"Mom, please let me in!!"

One day we popped popcorn with the lid off.  Look at Lily, she is so excited about it!

One day Lily cleaned up so nicely without me having to tell her a million times and she didn't complain AT ALL!  I thought that warranted the "super cleaner" award which she loved!  She showed it to Papa as soon as he got home.  She now has it hanging up in her room.

Summer???

Okay, I know I said that summer pictures would be over and that next would be the back to school pictures... but... I found more pictures! :) Yea for having lots of pictures documenting these three growing kids. They seem to be growing up before my very eyes! Here's more of the happenings at the Stirland household.

Watch out if you come to visit.  We have wild lions and monkeys at our house!

The not twins.  They are getting close to the same size and if they are sitting down it's harder to tell they are different sizes.  The other day they were both sitting down in the stroller.  I had a lady ask me if they were twins.  I said, "No, one is 4 and the other is 1."  She actually started to argue with me about it because they were the same size.  I finally just told her that the older one was a dwarf and was small for her age.  That ended the conversation.  :)

Ollie had the wonderful opportunity to fly to Utah all by himself!  He got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa and go on a little trip with them and his cousins, aunts, and uncles.  He had so much fun!  He was a little nervous about flying at first but we just talked everything over (a lot).  When the day came he was nothing but excited!  He had so much fun in Utah and still talks about it all the time!

Early one Saturday morning we went to the park before it got hot.  On the way we got free donuts (thanks library reading program).  What kid doesn't love donuts and the park???

Lily and Papa playing.

All three kiddos on the merry-go-round.

Ollie really wanted me to take a picture of him in this tree...  here you go buddy!

One day Claire was eating yogurt at the table.  It fell off the table onto the floor so Claire just climbed on down and finished it on the floor..

Every night we read Harry Potter for about 10 minutes.  Ollie is the one most interested in it.  The girls usually run around and play but this day they all wanted to sit on the couch with us.

Lily during swimming lessons.  She had to wear an ear headband because on the second day of class she got an outer ear infection.  She was much braver for swim lessons this time around and she really enjoyed it.

After swimming lessons we would go to the outdoor pool to let the kids play more.  They have a slide and our "no fear" child loved it!

This year as part of Ollie's class he got to start learning how to play water polo.  He thought it was a lot of fun!

Just so you know, I got a new camera for my birthday (hooray!!!) and I have yet to download the software onto my computer and figure out how that part all works. I have more pictures on it (including back to school) so... more pictures soon. :)